New business initiatives, more captured Ridgers’ attention in 2012

Monday

Dec 31, 2012 at 6:30 PMDec 31, 2012 at 6:32 PM

Though Anderson County’s jail population has increased, District Attorney General Dave Clark reported in January 2012 that crime had gone down each year for the past four years and the county now has 1,000 fewer crimes per year. “Criminals are finding Anderson County is becoming a much harder place to do business,” Clark stated in a release.

by Darrell Richardson/Staff

Though Anderson County’s jail population has increased, District Attorney General Dave Clark reported in January 2012 that crime had gone down each year for the past four years and the county now has 1,000 fewer crimes per year. “Criminals are finding Anderson County is becoming a much harder place to do business,” Clark stated in a release.

Jasmini Slater and Douglas Stewart of Oak Ridge were the proud parents of the first baby born in 2012 at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge. Zahra Jaliyah Stewart weighed six pounds and four ounces, was 19 inches long and has an older sister, Zoey.

A 50-year-old former cleaning woman was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to the murder of 73-year-old Walter Sartory, a retired Oak Ridge National Laboratory research scientist and millionaire living in Hebron, Ky, when he was kidnapped in 2009.

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s recently retired Y-12 manager, Ted Sherry, praised his family and the Y-12 National Security Complex workforce for his successes during a January reception held in the Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ Pollard Auditorium.

It was announced that the Food Lion grocery store in Clinton, as well as the distribution center which opened there in 1988, would be closing.

Two Republican candidates for Anderson County mayor — Oak Ridge business owner Theresa “Terry” Frank and Lake City businessman Tim Isbel — talked taxes and less government during the first (but not the last!) forum of the local political season.

During a January reception, Oak Ridge Police Capt. Rick Stone, who retired after almost 39 years in law enforcement, thanked his friends at the Police Department, his wife Adele, and his Creator. Stone told his fellow officers that “that gun and vest was not protection. … God has protected me and our Department.”

Oliver Springs City Manager David Bolling announced he would be leaving his position on Feb. 17. “It’s been a pleasure serving the people of Oliver Springs,” he said. “I will miss the people and the experiences.”

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Losing sales to online retailers, Oak Ridge business owners were joining stores across Tennessee to fight the problem.

The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board approved a loan agreement with a Tazewell-based bank for tax increment financing for the Woodland Town Center development. Citing issues he had about using money for public improvements on private property, IDB member Richard Chinn cast the lone “no” vote.

It was reported in February that there was no written agreement regarding how the Oak Ridge school system would pay its share of the $65 million debt load incurred by the city for construction work at the renovated Oak Ridge High School. City Manager Mark Watson and School Superintendent Tom Bailey were asked to create a proposed agreement — to be considered and agreed upon by the School Board and City Council — that would formally address how much money the school district should pay the city from its sales tax revenue, for how long, and exactly how that revenue will be used to help pay down the city’s school debt.

An “able and affable” Dr. Joe Johnson, president emeritus of the University of Tennessee, received a “Muddy Boot” Award from the East Tennessee Economic Council. “Oak Ridge has always been a community with a great spirit and a progressive attitude,” stated “Dr. Joe.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu arrived at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory on a quick, nuclear-themed visit that included a “virtual tour” of a nuclear reactor at the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL).

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Though the two people killed in a shootout with Anderson County deputies were positively identified as 25-year-old Shanna Richardson and 32-year-old Michael Baker, both of Lincoln, Ind., a formal investigation was expected to take several months to complete. The couple died after a chase through Anderson County ended in the parking lot of the Claxton Fire Department on Blockhouse Valley Road.

In early March, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Tom Bailey announced he would be retiring effective Dec. 31, 2012. “At the end of my service, I will have completed 42 and a half years in a profession that I have truly enjoyed,” Bailey wrote in his resignation/retirement letter. Additionally, he told The Oak Ridger: “It’s time for me to go enjoy my wife and my granddaughter.”

John Eschenberg, interim manager of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office, was tapped to lead the design and construction efforts of the multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Like the Spallation Neutron Source, Eschenberg predicted the UPF initiative — “the largest construction project in the state of Tennessee’s history” — will be another “crown jewel in Oak Ridge, Tenn.”

Roane County Executive Ron Woody announced that the Roane Regional Business & Technology Park will be the new home of Volkswagen’s $40 million, 400,000-square foot Southeastern Regional Distribution Center. “You’ll see more businesses come along this corridor,” stated Deputy Gov. Claude Ramsey.

A letter from a local real estate broker informed residents on Iris Circle, Robin Lane and Ivanhoe Road that a client was interested in purchasing their properties and would like to talk to them. Part of the Highland View neighborhood, the residential area is made up of about 100 homes west of the historic Grove Center and north of the Oak Ridge Turnpike. “I’m not going to be hoodooed by the Hoodoo Man,” one resident told The Oak Ridger. “They must think I fell off the turnip truck.”

In a March 24 event, the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge and the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians partnered to host a recognition of the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting in America. The first Oak Ridge Girl Scout troop was formed by Elsie Novy (Atkins) during World War II — after she received permission from the U.S. Army. Decades later, Joyce Maienschein’s Troop 69 founded the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.

Fellow students, school officials and others were dealing with the shock of a crash that took place during a sunny first-day-of-spring outing that sent five Anderson County High School students to the hospital. Several of the students were reportedly in critical condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. “We’re just heartbroken and heartsick,” said ACHS Principal Andrea Russell.

A grand jury returned multiple indictments against 47-year-old Valerie Stenson of Teller Village Lane in connection with the 2011 death of her 18-month-old granddaughter — Manhattan Inman.

Oak Ridge City Council members expressed shock at the city’s proposed water and wastewater rate increases, after seeing how the new rates compare to other nearby cities. It was explained that the proposed rate increases were to pay for improvements to the water and wastewater system by 2015 … improvements being forced on the city by the Environmental Protection Agency. “Now is the time to ask for an extension (in the EPA mandate),” said Council member David Mosby.

The Friends of ORNL received a personal demonstration and explanation of the research project that won top honors at a 2011 national Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology for Oak Ridge High School seniors Ziyuan Liu and Cassee Cain. The win earned them a $100,000 college scholarship prize they were to share for using the gaming technology of the Kinect for Xbox 360 to analyze human walking patterns.